daydreams

I smell the things he eats on his rank breath.
The predator that's clinging to my back
can't know I fantasize about his death,
each time I'm called from pasture to take tack.
Domestication's not all bad, I know.
We used to live in fear of wolves, and bears.
Extinction's a much tougher row to hoe;
too many species are no longer here.
But bonding with new strangers every week
--each acting like I owe something to him--
presumes that I'm consistently so meek
that I'm enthusiastic for his whim.
These city-slickers staying at Dude Ranches
smash gratifyingly on low-slung branches.

unconsidered opinion

The Kremlin plants fake stories on the Right

to poison dialogue among us Yanks.
They bait the Left as well, but get no bite;
the credulous are thin, among those ranks.
Mistrusting facts, Trump's base clings to his cult
like he's some Cyrus, doing God's behest.
The skepticism fitting an adult--
If not eradicated's--been suppressed.
A battle different than we've waged before
is not amenable to compromise;
if we're to win this asymmetric war

we'll need an antidote to arrant lies.

Democracy's a less-than stable boat
if citizens won't read, and think, and vote.

testify, sister!

Fiona Hill's a villain to the tribe
who'll never get what makes this country great.
She caught her boss soliciting a bribe
and--by her oath--will not equivocate.
The immigrants who've made this land their own
(not Gorka, but the likes of Dr. Hill)
won't bow to Trumpty on his tin-plate throne
and rain contempt on sycophants who will.
A land where class won't limit where she'll go,
where accent won't define a woman's place;
should not be sullied with Trump's quid pro quo,
or Pence's thinly veiled appeals to race.
No man of woman born can bring him down,
But Hill's the fitting bane of Trumpty-clown.

chayya Sarah

A slave plays out the type-scene at the spring
for Yitzhak, who must never leave the Land.
Enticing her with camels, gold, and ring
(the last is for her nose, not for her hand).
His master'd charged him: "Go and take a wife!
But do so for the one who can't be there"
Although that ram redeemed his forfeit life,
Our jealous God's still disinclined to share.
By now, Laban weighed harsh on Rivka's nerves
And prospects in her hometown rated low.
This unseen prince could be what she deserves;
she didn't hesitate to say "let's go!".
The match his mother took no time to find
was left to God when he tried dating blind.

duplicitous

The scandal Gordon Sondland has described

sets diplomats in conflict on two tracks.

While some extorted allies, seeking bribes

the others blandly claimed to have their backs.
Yet neither could be said to have gone rogue;

each executing what their boss had said.

Confusion over what's the quid pro quo

is wholly inside Trumpty's addled head.

Two sets of books--just like he keeps for tax!

One cover story, one recording crime.

Compulsive liar's "alternative facts"

collide with real reality, real-time.

'Though Trump--predictably--will throw a fit

Fiona Hill's not taking any shit.

adult supervision

Ken Starr concedes Pelosi's case looks strong
but doubts Republicans will sign on--yet.
To punish Trump--although it's plain he's wrong--
Is not the way this partisan would bet.
The straw that made Dick Nixon cut and run:
four party elders told him to his face
Their role in his whole cover-up was done.
They'd shouldered far too much of his disgrace.
Each day, another witness testifies
They'd asked for bribes 'cause Trumpty'd told them so
While Giuliani coached them in their lies,
the goal was manifestly quid pro quo.
When Starr admits Pelosi's case makes sense
a Democrat may face off with Mike Pence.

honor among thieves

The Walsh investigation hit a wall; no witness summoned would cooperate. A dozen parrot "I cannot recall" what Bush or Reagan'd done in ContraGate. How different everything looks in Ukraine! Omerta's not a value in Trump's tribe. Ambassadors demur to take the blame; what Trump'd solicited's a blatant bribe. Between the Devil and the deep blue Sea Zelensky tried his best to do what's right. Is he complicit in Trump's felony? He barely has a stake in this dogfight. Our diplomats won't meekly take the hit for Trumpty-Dumpty's partisan bullshit.

Lot's lot

Lot cast his lot among the cityfolk
less trusting in mishpachah than steel gates.
Reprising hospitality as joke
he scarce escaped his neighbors' fiery fate.
Though never doubting Justice must be done,
his uncle interceded for his skin.
Defense he dared not offer his own son,
seemed requisite for his dead brother's kin.
No such destruction's wholly one man's fault;
He had no veto on how things got done.
But now he's widowed by a post of salt,
His daughters felt obliged to get him sons.
Moshiach's ancestor roots in this text--
strange consequence to drunk illicit sex.

ad-hominem

The SwiftBoat libel Kerry failed to quash
was never prosecuted as a crime.
This cycle, all eyes focus on Amash;
Perchance the better man could win this time?
John Yoo inpugns a hero's loyalty
as if he didn't hold those values dear
that should define this "Land of Liberty".
And Vindman's suspect 'cause he's not born here.
Impeachment turns on votes, as much as laws,
as Publius warned in our nation's youth
Trump's violation's blatant, clause by clause...
but Hannity's contemptuous of Truth.
Ad-hominem attacks hold center stage
while half our voters sneer and disengage.

institutional corruption

Haim Saban preselects before we choose
Like China holding Hong Kong in its fist.
Democracy's deferred 'til they've gone through;
We only get to pick from their shortlist.
To serve the public shouldn't cost a mint;
The tab for ad-time's way out of control.
High-level jobs within "our" government
get purchased with a mortgage on your soul.
But "money equals speech" our courts attest;
to cap donations might abridge a "right".
So policy reflects donors' behests
They wield a veto largely out of sight.
While "Buckley..."'s still the law, sure your vote counts--
but ten-fold if it comes with large amounts.

senseless

The "incoherence" Lindsey Graham sells
is not an alibi to exculpate
a president who cavalierly tells
his embassies to "go ahead and wait".
Zelensky's got a narrow plank to walk
Between the Kremlin and U S. demands.
But Trumpty-Dumpty's disorderly talk
means conflict--if not war--is close at hand.
The Russian GDP's no more than Spain's--
--scant base on which to sensibly aspire.
But Putin trusts that Trumpty's so insane,
he'll reconstruct the Soviet empire.
While Graham does obeisance to his boss
democracy itself may take the loss.

FauxLeft

Mike Bloomberg scores a 'D' on CivilRights;
unreasonable search was fine by him!
Our constitution wasn't worth a fight
when dissidents were booked at Popo's whim.
But now he's seen Joe Biden drop the pace,
and leaps to stake that lane out as his own.
Big bankers want a champion in this race
and Trump can't carry all their hopes alone.
Like Garnet Coleman warned, four years ago,
the DNC won't let the People choose
an honest socialist when there's more dough
behind a guy who writes his own puff news.
The "factions" that our Founding Fathers feared
risk our republic's soul, this coming year.

one more billionaire

The donors who had pumped Joe Biden's bid
are showing doubts the old boy can compete.
Increasingly, they're flirting with the kid;
new waves of money lap at mayor Pete.
Mike Bloomberg saw Joe falter, took the jump
to seize the corporate Democrats' lane.
While no one thinks he's half as bad as Trump,
he still speaks more for Wall-Street than for Main-.
He's run a city, paid his civic dues
and--'though he'll grumble--always pays his tax.
But better still, he'd just buy out FoxNews
unplugging waves of scurrilous attacks.
Until votes out-weigh dollars in this race
the People's int'rest still wears Bernie's face.

image

The Girthers challenge Donald on his size
he's manifestly less that six foot three
and wildly inconsistent in the lies
he tells the bureaucrats at DMV.
A little man obsessed with all things big
heart-broken that his doll-hands don't conform
to what his daddy thought fit such a pig
remains obsessed with men in uniform.
Professor Warren's duly unimpressed
his propaganda's way below her grade.
When voters get to choose which one is best
he'll have exquisite cause to be afraid.
His wives know what he's terrified they'll say
if they would dare defy his NDA.

change?

Pelosi's trained a lifetime for this role
presiding with a gavel in her claw.
A visionless tactician in control
finds partisan advantage in the Law.
The "Right" reviles her for what she is not;
Progressives know she doesn't have their back.
But she makes any chair Trump sits in hot,
and brings a certain verve to each attack.
Still, fixing our republic's out of range
she won't do what big donors don't endorse
a Sanders or a Warren would want change
and Wall Street wouldn't get to plot that course.
Impeachment may give spectacle and fun
but these are Nancy's last days in the sun.

Victor

The Right to Live in Peace rings in the night
though Pinochet had tried to quell his voice
this Victor hasn't give up the fight
and goes on singing, 'though he can't rejoice.
The Right to Live in Peace swells day by day
Half Santiago's thumping to the dance
the million Victor Jara taught to play
now give non-violence a second chance.
The Right to Live in Peace roars in the street
the banks can't hide behind self-serving laws.
No wealthy few are going to defeat
the People unified in a just cause.
the Victor Jara anthem feeds on rage
rejecting plutocrats in our new age.

inflection

Sam Donaldson remembers Nixon well
abusing power for his private ends.
This year, he welcomes Trumpty to this Hell
where we'll find that he doesn't have two friends.
Just Mitch McConnell--staunch guard at his rear--
still promising to quash Pelosi's bills,
stands firm while others slink away in fear
(although he pulls his head into his shell).
Pelosi's counting votes and bides her time;
she won't lob Mitch a slow-pitch he can hit.
Before the Senate's voting on Trump's crime
McConnell's allies might be wise to quit.
A nation's nightmare, played out to the crowd--
'though slow to start--is getting very loud.